The Queen of the Vespiforms
by dragonwings948
Summary: While Rose's family is trapped on the Vespiform planet, the Doctor and Rose must find the Vespiform Queen before time runs out. However, could this all just be a trap to ensnare the Doctor? Sequel to "A Little Bit of Human." Copyright to the BBC.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Here is the shiny new story, as promised. However, I regret that I probably won't update as often because this is the first story I don't have already written out. Not to worry, I will update whenever I can. Also, if you didn't catch it, I updated my previous story and added a prologue that is essential to the storyline that continues through this story and those to come. In other words, go read it! And also, check out my bio. I have a blog! As always, review, follow, and favorite please! :) Okay, I'll shut up now. **

In a dark corner of a cell, in a dark corner of a spaceship, in a dark corner of the universe, there sat a petite, shivering form. How long she had been there, she didn't know. One moment she had been lying peacefully in her bed, and then in the next moment, she had found herself inside this cell. Her cloak and robes had all been stripped off of her, leaving her with hardly anything to cover her sensitive skin.

The Queen of the Vespiforms hugged herself tighter as another shiver rocked her body. She closed her eyes and focused her mind, concentrating on transforming. However, like all her previous attempts, nothing happened. Could it be that her ability to morph into other creatures had died away like the rest of her race, or was it something about this cell? Or even this ship?

Her thoughts drifted back to her people, like they always did. She feared what her planet would become with the Commander in control as Supreme Chancellor. She had never liked his brutal ways, but she had had as much choice in selecting her second-in-command as she did in becoming Queen; none. The Vespiform ways were traditional, and traditional they would stay.

Surely her people were looking for her, but she knew they would never find her. She was meant to be found by one person alone; this "Doctor" which she had overheard her captor talking about. It was all a trap for him, though how she was involved, she didn't know. How could she draw the attention of a man she had never met?

Apparently this Doctor had outwitted her captor before. Would he do so again? Would he save her?

The Queen clasped both pairs of her hands in front of her and closed her eyes, whispering into the stale air of her cell, "Please, Doctor. _Please." _


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: A long chapter, just for you, my faithful readers. :)**

Rose Tyler drummed her fingers on the TARDIS console, racking her brains and pushing through waking-up-drowsiness. He hadn't been in the library, kitchen, or his room, the normal getaways...

She thought through her life with the Doctor in the other universe. There were only certain places that he went to think or be alone, and she had exhausted all of them. There had to be another place she was missing.

Ah! She snapped her head up and nodded as she recalled one place she hadn't checked yet. Though it was a rarer escape for the Doctor, _her _Doctor was new and different, and she wasn't used to his TARDIS habits yet.

"Can you show me where the pool is?" Rose asked the TARDIS. She knew the temperamental time and space machine well enough to know not to ask it to make rooms appear at her whim; though the TARDIS had been happy enough to help Rose last night, she knew the ship didn't like to be told what to do.

A map of the TARDIS interior appeared on the console's monitor with one room glowing a bright red. Rose memorized the way easily enough and patted the console with a smile. Instead of taking the center hallway to her room, she took the left one and opened the first set of double doors on her right. An Olympic-size swimming pool dominated the entire room, its translucent water rippling slightly.

Rose stepped forward onto white concrete and peered into the pool to see the Doctor's slim figure swimming in the opposite direction. The Doctor surfaced at the other end of the pool, shaking his head and flinging water droplets in all directions. He ran a hand through his hair, and finally looked in Rose's direction.

"Rose!" His exclamation echoed endlessly throughout the room. With a clean dive he was back in the water, racing towards her. His head popped up beneath her soon enough, splashing her feet with ice cold water. She giggled and jumped out of the way, sitting down at the edge of the pool and letting her legs dangle off in the water.

"Care to join me?" he asked, water dripping at a constant rate from his drooping hair. He heaved himself halfway out of the water and crossed his arms on top of Rose's knees, grinning his biggest.

Rose felt warmth creeping into her cheeks as she realized he was shirtless, though wearing a pair of swimming trunks. His skin was so pale that it was almost white, though whether the water or the lighting had an effect on that, she wasn't sure. She couldn't help but noticing that every muscle she could see seemed to be perfectly toned; not buff, but not scrawny in the slightest.

"What?" The Doctor looked down at his arm and poked at nonexistent flab. "Is it that bad?"

Rose shook her head and forced herself to focus on his face. "No, just thinking...shouldn't we be on our way to the Vespiform's planet?"  
His smile was unwavering. "Time machine. We can be there whenever we want."

"Yeah I know, but..." Rose bit her lip. "I don't like not being there with my family. What if they find out that Mum's really not the Queen?"

"They won't," he assured her in a gentle voice. He began to slip away from her and quickly readjusted his grip. "We haven't left yet because I've been thinking."

She couldn't stop a smile from peeking through. "When aren't you?"

"Right. But I mean something specific this time. Why was it your mum that got picked? Out of the millions of females on planet Earth, it had to be your mum. Why?"

Rose hadn't really considered this before. To be fair, however, there hadn't been much time for her to think. She needed several hours more sleep than the Doctor did.

"I dunno, just chance?"

His gaze turned a little lighter than it had been a moment before. "Chance. You know, I don't think I believe in chance. Chance, luck, fate; I've had too much in one lifetime for it to be random."

"You told me you kissed up to Fortuna once."

His eyes shone with mirth. "Ah, yes. That was back in my fourth regeneration. 'Spose that could be part of it." He lifted his body up out of the water even further, bringing his head closer to Rose's as his smile faded. "But why _your _mum? Someone we're connected to. Someone we would do anything to protect."

Rose backed away an inch as what he was saying sunk in. "You're not saying that all this is because of _us?" _

He sighed as he slid back into the water, his head bobbing above the surface. "I don't know. But I don't like it."

"You were jumping at the chance yesterday," she said, recalling how excited he had been to see new life forms, and soon, a new planet.

"Oh no." A smile crept onto his face again. "I wouldn't miss the chance to go to that planet in a million years! It's the missing Queen part I don't like. I still need to think it through, though. Library was too quiet, my room was too familiar, so I came here! Turns out I still enjoy swimming." He stretched out on his back and smiled. "So, join me?"

After waking up no more than ten minutes ago, Rose wasn't in the mood to go change and get completely wet. "I'll just watch."

The Doctor sighed sadly and shook his head as he approached her again. "Well, you leave me no choice."

Rose pulled her feet out of the water quickly, knowing what the Doctor had in mind by the mischievous grin on his face. She smirked at him as she jumped up out of his reach. "Not today, Doctor."

He surprised her by continuing his pursuit and hoisting himself out of the water and onto the concrete. Rose ran to the other side of the pool as he climbed, careful not to slip.

"It's just water," he called, his body sopping wet. "I'm starting to think you're avoiding me on purpose."

No way was he going to win by appealing to her compassion. She ran around to the long side of the pool across from the Doctor. As soon as he saw her position he jumped into the pool, cutting through the water as though he belonged there. Rose continued to run along the side, but the Doctor was quicker. As soon as she thought she had escaped, wet palms grasped her ankles. She stopped in her tracks, as the grip was unrelenting. The Doctor grinned up at her.

"Gotcha." Not releasing his hold on her, he climbed onto the concrete and quickly wrapped his arms around Rose's middle, pressing her against his dripping chest.

Rose rolled her eyes as water seeped through her shirt and shorts. "All right, you've had your fun."

"Nope. Not yet!" He hoisted her over his shoulder with a chuckle as she squealed.

"Put me down!" she demanded, pounding on his back with her fists.

"Right, then! Down you go!" With another laugh he threw her straight into the freezing water onto her back. However, she had barely gone under when the Doctor's arms were supporting her back.

"See? Nice, isn't it?"

Rose sputtered and smacked his chest. "You stupid alien!" But she probably wasn't doing a good job at pretending to be mad at him, because she loved the way he was cradling her and how her head was resting over his heart.

Sure enough, he saw straight through it. "I love you too," he murmured. "And you think _I'm _bad in the mornings."

"At least Idon't make cheap shots about humans, even though I am one." She could feel her breaths grow a little shorter as she wrapped her arms around his waist and felt his smooth skin underneath her fingers.

"Half human." He let go of Rose and she floated gently onto her feet. He then leaned over and pressed his cheek against Rose's, his lips close by her ear. "The time lord half can hear your heart speeding up."

She wrapped her arms tighter around him as he nuzzled her cheek with his prickly counterpart. "I think you need to shave, mister," Rose remarked none too quietly.

"What, you don't like it?"

"No, it's not you. I like my doctors clean-shaven," she whispered with a smile.

"That can be arranged." He then began to kiss the side of her head, beginning with her ear and then every space on that side he could reach. His arms snaked around her and held her close in a vice-like grip.

Rose took the opportunity to release his waist and memorize what his arms felt like. His muscles hardened as she gripped his forearm and she smiled, running her fingertips gently over his strong and capable arms.

"I never knew you were this strong underneath your suit."

He shrugged. "I went to the gym when I lived in Scotland."

Rose tried to imagine the Doctor working out with weights and treadmills, but she couldn't. It was too normal for him. Even just the idea of it made Rose giggle.

"What? There's nothing wrong with that!" He flexed his muscles again, as if emphasizing his point.

"No," Rose said with a laugh, "it's just you, in a gym, lifting weights and stuff...I can't picture it!"

"I'll have you know, I lived a very _human _life." He pulled away from her to look her in the eye with a small smile.

"You keep saying human like it's a bad thing." She cocked an eyebrow at him, returning his smile.

His voice was suddenly very soft, his gentle brown eyes boring into her. "It's not all bad." He closed the distance between them and kissed her, wet lips and all.

It didn't matter that they were in the shallow end of the TARDIS pool, or that they were both thoroughly soaked. It didn't matter how many planets they had to save or evil plots they had to uncover; the world could wait for the Doctor and Rose. For far too long they had been separated from each other, and it was only fair that they attempt to make up for every moment lost.

Rose looped her arms around the Doctor's neck and leaned into the kiss, threading her fingers through his hair. The Doctor began to relent and pull away after a few moments, but Rose pushed his head right back down and their lips met again.

But they had to stop some time, and in the end it was Rose who separated their lips, though she couldn't move back much at all because of the Doctor's grip and the concrete wall at her back. It occurred to her then that they must have moved, and she hadn't even noticed.

The Doctor must have realized that he was practically crushing her against him, because he released her, his lips curved in a smile and his eyes alight with love. "Blimey, Rose Tyler, the things you do to me. Sometimes I think you're bent on breaking my poor human body."

She stepped closer to him again and placed a delicate kiss on his lips. "I don't think you'd mind if I did."

He returned a kiss of his own, though much longer. "Definitely not," he murmured as he pulled away. He sighed and looked past her, probably at the door. "Well, I suppose we have to keep going, then?"

Rose smiled and grabbed him in a hug, his reluctance giving her pleasure. "As much as I would love to stay in here with you all day-"

"-which we could, because we're in a time machine-"

"I can't just sit here while my family might be in danger."

He sighed again and pulled away, pushing Rose's hair behind her ears and placing his hands on either side of her face. "I know, Rose, and that's one of the many things I love about you." He gave her another quick peck on her lips and then took her hand in his, leading her up a set of steps to the surface. Two towels were waiting on a long lounge chair and the Doctor picked one up and tossed it at her.

Rose began to dry herself off while watching the Doctor. He ruffled the towel over his hair first, and then proceeded to dry himself off. He wrapped the towel around his waist and looked up at Rose, who draped her towel over her chest and took the Doctor's outstretched hand.

"Sorry for getting your clothes wet," the Doctor said as they exited the room.

Rose smiled at his uncharacteristic consideration. "'S okay. I needed a bit of waking up." She squeezed his hand as they entered the console room. "I'm going to shower and change, be back in a few minutes."

"Same here." But he held on to her hand and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Which suit should I wear?"

She took a good look at him, his hair all in a disarray and his pale skin practically glowing in the light of the TARDIS. His grin was huge, exposing his perfect teeth, and distracting Rose for a few seconds.

"The blue one," she finally decided.

"Classic," he said approvingly.


	3. Chapter 2

Somewhere around half an hour later, Rose strode into the console room with dry clothes. She was greeted with the sight of the Doctor sitting in the console chair and poking at an object in his hands. With a smile she approached him, unable to help noticing that his blue suit was beginning to wear and fray in places. Though the TARDIS did provide nice clothes, maybe she would have to drag him shopping some time...

"There we are," the Doctor cooed as he stroked the item. "That's it."

"Are you ready to go?" asked Rose, wondering what new toy he had to play with now.

"Remember this?" Completely ignoring her question, he solemnly held up a small watch-like object, though the screen had strange letters flashing across it.

A memory popped into Rose's head of the Khals, one of their tentacles wrapped around her throat as it simultaneously suffocated and electrocuted her. She absentmindedly rubbed her throat where she used to have a large burn. "Yeah, I remember," she said quietly.

"Remember how I nicked this off of one of them? Well, it turns out that it doesn't only show the location of others of its kind or electrocute people. It stores information."

Rose sat beside him and looked down at the screen, but she still couldn't read whatever language it was written in, though it seemed familiar. "Why can't I read that?"

His expression hardened. "It's Gallifreyan."

"What?"

"Gallifreyan. The language of the time lords. The written language is so ancient it doesn't translate."

Rose tried to look at him to convey her surprise, but he only had eyes for the watch. "But why would the Khals-"

"I don't know. That's what I want to find out."

Rose bit her lip. Would he be so consumed with this now that he would forget all about the Vespiform Queen and their mission to find her?

"That doesn't matter now," the Doctor said with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I was just looking up information about the Vespiform planet. It's called Vesporia, _very_ original. The air has too much carbon dioxide for a human body so we'll have to take..." he trailed off.

Rose shook his shoulder. "What is it, Doctor?"

"...precautions," he finished without hardly moving his lips. "The Vespiforms won't think of that." He leapt up out of the chair and went to action, working like a blur across the console. "I can only estimate what time they would land there, but we have to get there before they do."

Rose jumped up beside him as she realized what he meant. "What will happen to my family if we don't get there in time, Doctor?"  
He hesitated. "With the high amount of carbon dioxide in the air...they would suffocate within a few minutes of stepping onto the planet."


	4. Chapter 3

In the matter of a second, Rose's mind become one big, jumbled, worry mess. It didn't matter that they were in a time machine and could get anywhere at any time. This was _her family, _and they were in danger_._ "So can't we just-" She tried to use hand motions to describe what she was thinking. "-land on the ship?"

"It would take about half an hour to calibrate, and I don't think you want to wait that long. Now if we could reach them while they were stationary..." He flipped a switch on the console and then looked sharply at Rose.

"Time."

It took her a moment to understand what he was asking. She fumbled with her phone as she pulled it out of her shorts pocket, but finally managed to press the button that lit up the screen.

"Ten eighteen."

"What time did we leave them on the ship?"

Rose thought hard through all the events of yesterday. But before she could think of a time, something else popped into her head. "The memory filters!" she blurted out.

The Doctor was still staring at her with an intense gaze. "Took care of it. I need a _time." _

She decided to ask him about that later and concentrated on times again. "Eleven thirty. I went to bed." She caught herself. "But that's London time, so in Florida time it would be...six thirty?"

He cracked a smile. "That's my Rose." Then he turned back to the console, all business. "I went back to install the memory filters at seven, took me about twenty minutes, so if we go at seven twenty-five we should catch them right before they leave." He pressed one more button on the controls and they were off.

Rose's pounding heart finally slowed down. Her family was going to be fine. She and the Doctor would get there and warn them, it was all going to be okay.

"You all right?" the Doctor asked, facing her once more.

"Yeah, just...worried." She leaned forward until she was in his arms, her head on his shoulder. "I don't like them being involved. When it's just us, fine. But with my mum, dad, and Tony..."

"I know." He rubbed her back in a soothing rhythm. "I won't let anything happen to them. I promise."

She squeezed him in a grateful hug and kissed his cheek. The TARDIS announced its landing as Rose pulled away from the Doctor.

"Ready for another adventure?" he asked with a gleam in his eye.

Despite her fears, she smiled in response. "Always."


	5. Chapter 5

"Alone at last," the Doctor sighed, taking Rose's hand in his as soon as they had walked through the door.

"Surrounded by aliens?" Rose confirmed with a smile, squeezing his hand.

He grinned back at her. "More alone than we are with your mum."

Rose shook her head, though she couldn't help but continue to smile. "When are you ever going to stop having a row with her every time you look a her?"

"When she stops doing it to me." He looked over at her and winked, eliciting a chuckle from both of them. "But you know we're all right, me and your mum."

Rose glanced at his expression but he was staring straight ahead, navigating them through the ship's hallways. "What do you mean?"

"I care about her, and Pete and Tony. I…" His Adam's apple bobbed up and down with his swallow. "Anyway, I'll take care of you. All of you." He scratched the back of his head absently, nodding to one of the Vespiforms as they walked by.

Rose knew the Doctor's body language to mean that he was uncomfortable. She wondered if he was still concerned about her worries for her family and trying to comfort her, but his manner wasn't right. "What is it, Doctor?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but just then a Vespiform came around the corner and skidded to a stop just in time to avoid collision with Rose.

"My apologies!" The alien's reptile-like purple skin furrowed together where eyebrows would be, and his eight eyes widened. "Forgive me, I-I didn't see you-"

"No harm done," the Doctor assured, reaching out his free hand to steady the stammering Vespiform. "I'm the Doctor. This is Rose, daughter of the Queen."

The alien's expression remained unchanged. "Of course. My name is Skrikdor. I have been sent to be of service to anyone in the party of the Queen, so if you have need of anything, you may ask me."

"Ah, is that so?" He glanced down at Rose and raised his eyebrows, silently asking for permission. She nodded, assenting to whatever he wanted Skrikdor for, and he continued. "Well, I have a feeling the Queen might not need you right now, but I think there is a way you can help me."

Skrikdor bowed his head. "Whatever you wish, Doctor."

"I want to know about you. Your race, your planet, any details you can tell me."

"Of course. Shall I take you to a lab so I may show you some facts about our biology?"

The Doctor broke into a huge, boyish grin. "That would be brilliant!"

Skrikdor seemed incapable of smiling, for his mouth stayed in a hard line. "If you will follow me."

"I couldn't pass up the chance," the Doctor murmured as they followed the Vespiform down the hallway.

Rose chuckled silently. "I know, Doctor. It's okay, I'm curious too."

Skrikdor paused at a door labeled "Lab 1." He gestured for them to step through, and Rose steeled herself as she gazed at the solid white wall, outlined in black like a door. She had walked through several of these "doors" by now, but she hated the suffocating feeling it gave her, even if it was only for a second.

The Doctor walked through first, letting go of her hand and stepping forward like it was nothing. Rose sighed and held her breath, walking into the wall. It rippled around her, allowing her to go through, but she could feel pressure on all sides pushing down on her body.

Rose came out on the other side with a gasp, shaking her head to dispel the feeling. The room was white, like the rest of the ship, and there was a large piece of glass about the length of her body on the wall. Another smaller glass panel was attached vertically to the wall, and other than that there was nothing else in the room.

"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked, his hands deep in the pockets of his trench coat.

"Yeah, just don't like the doors."

Skrikdor seemed to materialize from the wall, his two pairs of arms folded. He reached out and touched the small glass panel, which glowed red and then showed a keypad on its surface.

"That's some sort of tablet, then?" the Doctor asked from behind Rose.

"Yes. They are very useful to us and come in all sizes. You have some things similar to them on Earth." With another tap of Skrikdor's finger, the bigger glass panel shifted from horizontal to vertical, and the outline of a Vespiform showed on it.

"Very well," Skrikdor said, clasping all his hands together, "shall we begin?"


	6. Chapter 6

The view was breathtaking.

From her view on a raised landing platform, Rose could look over the capital city of the planet Vesporia under an orange-tinted sky. It was almost like London, with many large, spiraling towers and skyscrapers, only it was several times bigger. It spread for miles upon miles, further than she could see in any direction.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

She jumped at the Doctor's voice beside her, having been caught up in the sight. His hands were hidden inside his trench coat pockets as his eyes swept over the dazzling silver city.

"Yeah," Rose agreed, matching his volume of reverence. "I know I've said it before, but I'll never get used to seein' things like this."

The Doctor flashed a grin. "That's good, because it means I won't either." He reached out his hand to hold hers and pulled her to his side.

"Commander!"

The Doctor and Rose both spun around at the new voice, breaking their grip on each other. A Vespiform, wearing a black suit instead of white like the rest of them, marched across the landing platform to where the Commander stood in front of Jackie, Pete, and Tony. However, his eyes were on the Doctor and Rose.

"I allow you to bring humans to this planet, and you allow them to break our laws?"

The Commander followed the Vespiform's gaze. Rose looked down at her jeans and blouse, wondering if her clothing was somehow inappropriate.

"Forgive me, Supreme Chancellor," he said, taking a step back and suddenly seeming much smaller. "I did not see. I will be sure to inform them of our customs so that no further-"

"Yes, you will see to it, and you will also see to remembering that I am no longer Supreme Chancellor, just as you are no longer Commander in Chief." The Chancellor looked past him. "Where is our Queen, Sergeant?"  
"Right here, sir," he said, gesturing to Jackie. "She seems to be incapable of switching back to her true form."

"My Queen." The Chancellor's voice immediately became reverent as he bowed to Jackie. "I have had word that your memory has been impaired, so I will try to refresh it as much as I can. I am your Commander in Chief, who does your bidding and sends orders to all the Vespiforms."

Jackie smiled, probably realizing that she liked the idea of someone who would do anything she wanted. "Thank you, Commander," she said, putting on the kind manner she used at charity balls, benefits, and the like.

The newly demoted Commander in Chief looked over Pete and Tony with a critical gaze. "Sergeant, show the humans their chambers." He turned to Jackie. "Your Majesty, would you like to see yours as well?"

"Yes I would, thank you."

The Doctor looked down at Rose with a raised eyebrow. "What happened to your mum?" he murmured.

Rose smiled smugly up at him. "She knows how to adapt."

He nodded. "Well I can see that. I thought she'd have them fighting a civil war by now."

Rose huffed and elbowed him in the ribs, walking across the landing platform to join her family as they followed the Sergeant. The Doctor followed her, walking right by her side as they entered one of the shorter buildings in the city, leaving the Commander out on the platform. The party walked straight into an elevator, and all was quiet as it gently descended.

A quiet sniff sounded, and Rose looked down to see Tony wiping the sleeves of his shirt over his eyes. "Oh, dear," she mumbled as she reached down to take him in her arms and pick him up. He normally would squirm until she put him down, but instead he leaned his head on Rose's shoulder and clung to her like a lifeline.

"'S gonna be all right," she whispered. Jackie's head turned, and her eyes widened at the sight of Tony.

Rose tried to communicate with her eyes that she had it under control. Jackie nodded and turned to face the door of the elevator, flanked on one side by the Sergeant.

"Me and the Doctor have done this loads of times. Remember all the stories?"

The boy nodded his head.

"And this time, we're special. They're not going to try to hurt us because Mum is their Queen." Rose looked next to her at the Doctor, who was staring at her with a strange expression.

"You're turn," she muttered, knowing that if anyone could cheer Tony up, it would be the Doctor.

He put on his best, most charming smile. "We'll get you home soon enough, Tony." He ruffled his hair. "But first we need to do some adventuring. Are you up for that?"

A small smile peeked through Tony's expression. He nodded.

"Good. 'Cause we're gonna need your help."


End file.
